


Deck the Halls

by I May Age Regress (shnuffeluv)



Series: Gibbs' Family [57]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Age Play, Christmas, Christmas Presents, Christmas Tree, Dreidels, Gen, Hanukkah, Light shows, Mistletoe, Non-Sexual Age Play, Parental Jethro Gibbs, Shopping Malls, Snowball Fight, Snowmen, Ugly Holiday Sweaters, Visiting Santa Claus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 18:34:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9001876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/I%20May%20Age%20Regress
Summary: The days right before Christmas and Christmas itself in the Gibbs household circa 2005. Have a good Christmas and Hannukah!





	1. Chapter 1

One week before Christmas, Gibbs heard Tony's excited cheer for the first time of the season at NCIS headquarters. "It's snowing!"

Gibbs looked up and did a quick once-over of his team. As he expected, his agents were nowhere to be found, replaced by his boys. Ziva walked into the bullpen, coffee in hand. She glanced at the window that had captured the boys' attentions, and back at them. "What are you looking at?" she asked.

Tony pointed to the window excitedly. "It's snowing!"

Ziva looked out the window again, and focused on Tony. She shook her head. "And? We are still at work, Tony. It is not as if we can go outside and do anything with it."

Tony crossed his arms, and Timmy focused on Ziva, slightly shocked. "Can't do anything with it?" Timmy asked incredulously. "Maybe not during work, but once we're off and can go outside we can do tons!"

Ziva blinked. "I do not think you understand that playing in snow only happens in cartoons."

Tony and Timmy looked at each other and then at Ziva. Timmy spoke up first. "No, lots of people play in the snow. Even regular adults do sometimes."

Gibbs cleared his throat. "We still have a case to finish, unless you all somehow solved it during this conversation?"

Ziva slinked over to her desk, and Tony and Timmy at least tried to act adult, even if the agents weren't back immediately. It wasn't that he didn't want Tony to be happy about the snow, or Timmy to come out of his shell further and explain the importance of playing in it to Ziva, but they had a dead petty officer and a little boy who wanted to know what happened to his mommy. So they worked, and when Gibbs felt they had done all they could for the day, he told the team to stop. "We're just waiting on warrants and evidence," Gibbs said. "By this time tomorrow the case should be solved. So everyone gets to go home on time today."

"Home? Or _home_?" Tony asked, thumb tracing his lips.

"Whichever you like," Gibbs said with a shrug. "I'm sure that some of the snow has stuck to my front lawn, though."

Tony grinned. "I'll go with you, then!"

"Can I come too?" Timmy asked, grabbing his coat. "I wanna make some snowmen, and I can't do that at my apartment."

Ziva looked over at Timmy. "Snowmen? People really make...snowmen?"

Timmy nodded, and Gibbs stood up. "You're all welcome over, if you want. Just get to the car."

As he left, he could hear the other three scrambling for their things. Tony caught up with him first, thumb in his mouth as he stood with his back to the bullpen, waiting for the elevator. Timmy followed with Ziva soon after, explaining to her that the things she could see in American Christmas-themed cartoons were actual things that kids would do if there was enough snow. He was especially eager to explain ice skating to her, because apparently she didn't know that this far south in America there were still instances where a lake could freeze over thick enough to go skating.

"...Usually you have to be in Pensylvania at least, but sometimes you can get it in Maryland, especially up north, and occasionally in northern Virginia, though that's rarer. But going ice skating outside a rink is so much fun, especially if not a lot of people are there, because it's just you and the ice and snow, and it's all so quiet and perfect," Timmy rambled on.

Ziva nodded at the appropriate times and kept a smile on her face, which Gibbs was thankful for. Timmy really only wanted to share how excited he was, but he could occasionally come off strong if someone didn't know him and thought him quiet before he started talking about his passions. Tony was the exact opposite. He'd talk about anything and everything in detail if you could get him to focus on a topic for any given amount of time, but when it was something he liked, as in, _really_  liked, he would get really shy about it, glancing around and mumbling about it, if he spoke at all beyond announcing that he liked said thing. It was both endearing and exasperating, and Gibbs often wondered how he dealt with two so radically different boys, let alone how Ziva managed to keep both of them engaged at once when she was over.

The elevator door opened and they all stepped in, Timmy finally slowing down in his dialogue in favor of bouncing on his toes impatiently. Tony stayed close to Gibbs the entire ride down. Gibbs put a hand on Tony's shoulder and squeezed gently. "Long day, huh?" he murmured.

Tony nodded, bleary-eyed.

"I think I know what will wake you up, though," Gibbs said, forcing himself to not smile just yet.

Tony looked over, a question in his eyes.

Gibbs whispered in Tony's ear, "Snowball fight."

Tony immediately perked up and grinned. "Maybe hot chocolate afterwards?" he asked.

Gibbs smiled and nodded.

Tony turned to face Timmy and exclaimed. "Snowball fight and then hot chocolate!"

Timmy grinned and bounced on his toes faster. Ziva looked between the two in confusion. "Why are you two so excited?"

"Snowball fight!" Tony exclaimed.

"Hot chocolate!" Timmy said immediately after.

Ziva looked to Gibbs. "Is this normal behavior?"

Gibbs chuckled. "No. Usually they're so impatient they take the stairs."

Ziva blinked in surprise as the doors to the elevator car opened and Tony and Timmy both raced out, Gibbs following behind close enough to make sure they were safe. "Shotgun!" Timmy yelled.

"No fair!" Tony protested. "We're not even outside yet!"

Gibbs just shook his head and continued to walk, even when Tony and Timmy stopped to argue. Ziva followed behind him. "I fail to see how this is normal behavior, Gibbs," she said.

"Normal for them. Most people don't age regress, so this behavior isn't considered 'normal,'" Gibbs explained calmly.

They walked outside and Ziva subtly flinched as she was hit by the cold. "The boys are still inside," she said.

"I know," Gibbs replied. "They'll realize they're alone soon, but far enough in the future that you can claim shotgun, if you want."

Ziva perked up and smiled. "I do not like sitting in the back," she agreed. "And my car is still in need of repairs."

"Let's go, then," Gibbs said, walking to his car.

Ziva looked around, fascinated by the snow still falling. "I have never had the chance to truly enjoy snowfall before," she said offhandedly.

"It is nice," Gibbs said. "I grew up in Pennsylvania. Plenty of snow there. Sometimes it would take six inches falling in a night to convince the school board to cancel classes that day. Sometimes it took more."

"What?" Ziva asked, hand just inches away from the car door handle.

Two sets of footsteps rushed closer and Ziva got in the car just in time for the two boys groan loudly. Gibbs laughed and got in the driver's seat, while Timmy and Tony got in the back. Gibbs started the car and turned on the radio, which was filled with Christmas music. Timmy stopped sulking and started singing along, not loudly but loud enough for everyone to hear. Tony groaned and leaned his head against the window. "Why d'you have to sing along?" he asked Timmy.

The other boy just stuck out his tongue and continued to sing all the way to Gibbs' house. He did pout a bit when Gibbs turned the radio off, but that stopped when Gibbs informed him and Tony, "The sooner you two change into your snow clothes, the longer you can play outside."

That made the two boys jump out of the car and into the house. Ziva frowned. "'Snow clothes'? You mean those...things that children wear in the snow?"

"Yes and no," Gibbs said, getting out of the car. "Technically what they wear is made for skiing, but these two will get drenched if they run around outside in the snow without snow-proof clothes, so I got them things to wear outside after it snows when they want to play. It's better than tracking snow all around the house as they change."

Ziva stepped out of the car as well and stuffed her hands in her coat pockets. "I suppose it would be," she said. "If it is all the same to you, I think I will sit on the porch and watch whatever it is you three will be doing."

"That's fine," Gibbs said, nodding. "Brush any snow on the steps off if you want to sit, but don't sit down until the boys are out here, or else you'll get trampled."

"Thank you for the advice," Ziva said, walking to the porch steps but not getting onto them until Tony and Timmy burst through the front door, both of them nearly falling face-first in the snow. Gibbs chuckled and walked over. "You two okay?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Timmy exclaimed. "I'm gonna make snowmen!"

Tony reached into the snow and started packing it together. "Lemme get some snowballs and then we can have our snowball fight!" he told Gibbs.

Gibbs nodded and walked to the other side of the yard, starting to form snowballs himself. Timmy was fast at work making the snowmen, and Gibbs noticed that while he made sure that the bottom two parts of the snowman were packed tightly, the heads were a little looser. He didn't have time to ponder that, though, because Tony at that exact moment decided to fling his first snowball.

Timmy yipped, being a bit too close to the throw for his comfort, and retreated to the relative safety of the driveway to watch. The snowball fell just a foot short of Gibbs, and he stared at it a moment, before looking at Tony, who looked up and gulped. Gibbs smiled and threw a snowball with all the strength he could muster, hitting Tony squarely in the chest. Tony stumbled back with an _oof_  and burst into giggles. The two flung snow at each other quickly, until one of Gibbs' snowballs hit one of Timmy's snowmen square on the head, sending the head crashing to the floor. Gibbs cringed and expected Timmy to cry out in outrage, but Timmy just burst out laughing. "You slapped it upside the head, Papa!" he called.

Ziva and Tony joined in the laughing and Gibbs cracked a smile, before lobbing another snowball at Tony. "Let's see how many heads I knock off by the end, hm?"

Timmy grinned and leaned back onto Gibbs' car, and Ziva stood from the porch, watching Tony and Gibbs circle each other before flinging snow wildly and getting each other soaked. Winter had begun.

* * *

Gibbs drove the car into the parking lot slowly, careful to not swerve into a space for the sake of his boys bouncing and chattering excitedly in the back seat. He inched into a spot and parked the car, and no sooner did he do so than Tony and Timmy were out of the car and racing to the Christmas tree farm. Gibbs pulled the keys out of the ignition and didn't even bother locking the car before rushing after them and grabbing them both by the collar. "What do you two think you're doing?" he asked. "You never, _ever_ , run in a parking lot! You could get hit by a car!"

Timmy looked suitably ashamed of himself but Tony just tried to squirm out of Gibbs' grip. Ziva walked up behind them and looked at the farm just ten feet in front of them. "And this is a yearly tradition? You just, walk onto someone's farm, chop down a tree, and take it home with you?"

"Well, you do pay them for the tree, but yeah," Gibbs said.

Ziva shook her head. "There are some American traditions I doubt I will ever understand."

Gibbs shrugged and walked the boys to the front gates, before letting go of their collars. "Find a tree that _both_  of you like, and one that can fit in the house."

The two took off and Gibbs followed at a slower pace, Ziva following a step to the right. "I think it is sweet that you do this for them, Gibbs. They obviously need it, and adore you for helping them."

Gibbs shrugged. "It helps me as much as it helps them," he said.

"Found it!" Tony called from up ahead, waving to them.

Gibbs and Ziva picked up the pace and Gibbs shivered slightly under his jacket. The snow from two days ago had yet to melt, and most of it had merely turned to ice, if it changed at all.

The tree was maybe seven feet tall, and would fit through Gibbs' doorway, so he had no objections to it. He would reuse the wood in the kids' toys later anyway, and what he couldn't use there would be firewood, so this was money well spent. He brought out his axe and motioned for Tony to take a step back, before looking around. "Where's Timmy?" he asked.

Behind him someone let out a whoop and suddenly there was ice raining down on his head. He turned around to see Timmy giggling madly, with gloves caked in snow. Gibbs shook his head and waved him back as well, before he took an axe to the trunk. When the tree fell, everyone took a part and lifted it to the exit, where they paid before heading to the parking lot. Gibbs strapped the tree to the top of his car and looked at his kids. "You guys picked out the tree pretty quick this year. How about we go out for some last-minute shopping before heading home and setting up the tree?"

"Yes!" Tony cheered. "Can we go see Santa? Please?"

"Of course we can go see Santa," Gibbs assured. "Get in the car, and we'll head right over."

The boys cheered and scrambled into the back, while Ziva shook her head and slid into the shotgun seat. Gibbs turned on the radio, while both Tony and Timmy belted out the lyrics to Christmas songs.


	2. Chapter 2

At the mall, people were running around at a near-frantic pace, trying to get everything they wanted before the stores sold out. Gibbs made sure that Tony and Timmy always stayed in his or Ziva's sight line, but they didn't dare get lost in the crowd anyway. The last thing they wanted was to be separated in a mall with no way home. Of course, that didn't stop them from making a bee line to the toy stores, it just so happened that they were careful about it.

Gibbs helped each of them make choices for one last gift for the other, which in Timmy's case was a set of matchbox cars for Tony, and in Tony's case a kit that would let you make your own book and send it away to be bound for Timmy. Together they decided they would get a small teddy bear for Ziva, which had a Star of David on its belly, left in the clearance bin to make way for Christmas-themed toys. Gibbs also pretended not to hear when they had a slightly heated argument over whether they should buy something for him now, or make something for him later, and ultimately decided to get him a small Disney figurine of one kind or another. He didn't want to look and ruin the surprise before Christmas. Ziva walked up to him with a bag in one hand and discreetly opened it to show two Disney movies. "For them to share. I noticed they didn't have these yet in their collection."

Gibbs nodded and smiled. "Thanks, Ziva."

Ziva looked over Gibbs' shoulder at Tony and Timmy, waiting in line for the cashier and, from what Gibbs could assume, probably looking around anxiously. "What are they doing?"

"Buying me a Christmas present. Don't tell them I know about it, though. They like for it to be a surprise," Gibbs murmured back.

"Do they buy presents for everyone?" she asked.

Gibbs nodded. "Yup."

"Does that include me?"

Gibbs smirked and didn't answer. Ziva sighed. "Much as I appreciate the sentiment, I do not celebrate Christmas."

"Oh, they know. They figured they could make you something for each day of Hanukkah, and decided to buy you the last present rather than try making something a little bigger and have it end in disaster."

Ziva looked at them again and her lips twitched in what could be a smile. "Really?"

Gibbs nodded. "I think they'd also like you to explain some of Hanukkah to them, understand why you celebrate it. They're curious, but they don't want to overstep their boundaries."

"I will do that at some point, then. When everyone is together, I could show them how to play with a dreidel."

"Oh, they'd love that," Gibbs said.

Ziva smiled. "I will bring it over, and we could play for gelt. They'd probably enjoy it."

Gibbs nodded. "Not to mention if you taught them, they could play while I'm cooking dinner, which would help me a lot."

Ziva grinned. "Well, that's settled, then. I'll teach them," she said as the boys ran over.

"We're finished here!" Timmy declared, holding up the shopping bag. "Can we go talk to Santa?"

Ziva turned to Gibbs with shock on her face, but Gibbs was unperturbed. "Promise not to get physical over who gets to see him first, and that's fine."

Timmy bounced on his heels in excitement as Tony lead the way to the center of the mall, where Santa was sitting.

"I wanna see Santa first!" Tony exclaimed for the tenth time once they were there.

"You _always_  get to see him first!" Timmy argued back. "It's not fair!"

Tony pouted and pulled out his ace. "But I never got to see Santa when I was younger. I wanna see him first!"

Timmy sighed and crossed his arms, jerking his head toward Santa. "Fine. You can see him first," he grumbled.

Tony cheered and got in line in front of Timmy, and Gibbs patted Timmy's shoulder. "Thanks for letting Tony go first. I know you could've won the argument if you wanted."

Timmy shrugged. "'S only right," Timmy muttered. "'Sides, I can get even at him later when he wants the last candy cane."

Gibbs chuckled. "You turn the candy canes into shanks. I'm always tempted to force you to back down on that one, before you get a tongue piercing."

Timmy giggled, and Gibbs glanced around for Ziva. She said she was going off to find one last thing for the season, but she hadn't yet returned.

Santa seemed a little shocked when Tony and Timmy approached him one after the other, and he pointed at Gibbs. "You want to sit on my lap, too?"

Gibbs laughed. "Nah, I'm their caretaker. Thanks for going with it, it means the world to them; you can't begin to imagine."

Santa smiled and nodded, and Gibbs followed Tony and Timmy out. Tony was waving to someone through the crowd, and Ziva approached, with a bag of her own. "I couldn't resist when I saw these earlier, and heard they were a holiday tradition," she said, proudly pulling out the ugliest Christmas sweater Gibbs had ever seen. "I got one for everyone."

"I'll allow _one_  picture," Gibbs warned. "Good or not."

Ziva grinned. "One picture is all I need."

* * *

" _Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring-ting-tingling too~ Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you~_ " Timmy sang as he pulled out ornaments from the box on the table and hung them on the Christmas tree in Gibbs' living room.

Tony was humming _O Christmas Tree_  as he hung up the last of the lights on the tree and plugged the cord into the socket, lighting up the plant. "There we go!" Tony exclaimed.

Timmy looked up from picking the next ornament to smile at the lights. "It's really pretty. It'll be even prettier when all the ornaments are on just right," he said, hanging up the next one, a reflective ball that he put closer to the center of the tree, which caught the multi-colored lights wrapped around the outside. He continued hanging up the ornaments, singing as he went, fully absorbed in his task.

Gibbs watched the two from the door to the basement with a smile. Tony was about to hang up the mistletoe, which would lead to tickle fights of the ages if anyone was unfortunate enough to get caught under it, and after that they were going to see the light show in Seneca Creek State Park, like they had done since Gibbs had first found the light show the year Tony had started coming over to Gibbs' place. 

Tony looked over to Gibbs and grinned, holding up the fake mistletoe from the bottom of the ornament box. "I'm gonna hang these up now!" he announced.

"Use the step stool, not a chair," Gibbs reminded as Tony ran around the house.

Timmy hung up the last ornament and took a step back from the tree, nodding. "Perfect," he announced.

Gibbs walked over to him and looked at the tree. "Yeah? Glad to hear it. Wouldn't want you to get worked up if something were out of place."

Timmy nodded and looked around. "Is Tony hanging up the mistletoe?"

Gibbs nodded. "Is there anything else he does once the Christmas lights are up?"

Timmy shrugged. "I dunno. I've yet to see anything else," he allowed.

Gibbs grinned and Tony rushed through the room to the front doorway, hanging a sprig of mistletoe over the front door, just as there was a knock at it. He opened the door and Ziva was on the other side. He looked up at the mistletoe, and Ziva followed, before they both looked down. Tony grinned nervously. Gibbs had already debriefed Ziva about what they did as an alternate to kissing under the mistletoe, and it looked like Tony knew that. He tried to sprint away but Ziva caught him by the back of the shirt, immediately going for Tony's ribcage with nimble fingers that had him guffawing in seconds under the tickling. Timmy laughed at the sight. "Tony's gettin' his just desserts," he said with no small amount of glee in his tone.

Gibbs lightly tapped him on the head. "Be nice," he warned. "You have to share a backseat with him tonight, remember?"

Timmy looked over at him, confused, before his eyes lit up. "Oh my gosh! We're seeing the light show tonight!"

Tony looked over at him from where Ziva had him pinned on the floor, but had stopped tickling him. "Yeah, didn't you remember?"

Timmy shook his head, before bouncing in excitement. "I love the light show! Can we go now?"

"Well, that's why Ziva is here, to come with us," Gibbs explained patiently. "So unless any of you need the bathroom..."

"I don't," Timmy said quickly.

Gibbs chuckled. "Anyone else?"

Neither Tony or Ziva said anything.

"Then let's go," he said, walking forward and ushering everyone out the door and into his car. Like usual, Ziva sat in the shotgun seat, while Tony and Timmy got situated in the back. Gibbs looked in the rearview mirror at his boys. "Everyone ready?"

Tony and Timmy nodded, and Gibbs made his way quickly through the streets to the park to view the Christmas lights. "I still do not see the benefit of these 'light shows'," Ziva said, crossing her arms. "They are gaudy, unnecessary, and a waste of energy."

"It's the principle of the thing!" Timmy said, pouting. "They are _not_  useless!"

Tony pouted along with Tim as they pulled into the road that cut through the park and up to the toll, and Ziva faltered as she looked back and saw their faces. Gibbs tried not to smirk too broadly as she sighed. "Oh, fine, enjoy the uselessness of the lights, you little manipulators," she mock-snarled, before turning around again to face the window.

Gibbs paid the toll, and followed a half-dozen cars through the park roads, as scene after scene unfolded in front of them in multicolored Christmas lights. Tony and Timmy were mesmerized, Tony caught up in the moving colors, and Timmy wrapped up in nostalgia from when he and Sarah would watch neighborhood lights as kids. Gibbs was going to nudge Ziva and ask for a picture, before realizing she was enraptured as well.

Huffing a laugh, Gibbs continued the drive in silence, letting his kids have a few minutes of introspection in the frantic bustle that was the holidays.


	3. Chapter 3

"Let's go over this one last time," Timmy said. "Milk?"

"Check!" Tony said, pointing to the glass of milk on the table.

"Cookies?"

"Check!" Tony exclaimed again, pointing to the cookies.

"Carrots for Santa's reindeer?" Timmy asked.

"Check! And a dish of water, in case they get tired of snow for somethin' to drink."

"Stockings hung on the fireplace?"

"Check!"

"I think that's everything!" Timmy declared, turning to Gibbs. "You are cleared for making dinner, as long as you don't touch the stuff for Santa."

Gibbs nodded seriously. "Okay. And while I'm cooking, why don't you two join Ziva in the living room? She told me she was looking forward to teaching you about Hanukkah."

Tony and Timmy grinned and scrambled out of the room. Gibbs listened in on the conversation as he worked to heat up the soup he had made earlier in the afternoon. "...Hanukkah is not even one of the biggest holidays in Jewish history. It is the celebration of a rebellion from the Greeks' oppressive government. You see, they wanted to use our temple for sacrifices to their gods. But the priests at the time of the rebellion hated this, and killed not only the people who were controlling them, but the priests who had accepted the sacrifice of pigs to these false gods. Israel was given back its freedom, and the temple was cleansed. However, when they went to light the menorah at night, they only had enough kosher oil to light the candles for one night. And yet, despite that, the candles burned for eight nights, the length of time needed to make a fresh batch of oil. We celebrate Hanukkah because of the revolt, and because of this miracle."

"Really?" Tony asked, shock in his tone.

"Mm-hm," Ziva hummed. "Or so the story goes. Would you like me to teach you a game the children play during this celebration with a dreidel?"

"Yes!" Timmy and Tony exclaimed.

Gibbs smiled as Ziva launched into a lengthy explanation of what each side of the dreidel meant, and how Tony _could not_  eat any of the gelt he earned from the pot until the game was over, because then there might be none left. He finished heating up the soup and poured it into bowls, setting the table, and walking into the living room. Tony was spinning the dreidel and everyone was watching closely to see the results. The dreidel landed on _none_ , and Tony groaned. "Dinner's ready," Gibbs announced.

Tony and Timmy got up off the floor, grumbling.

"You can keep playing after dinner," he told them. "But don't whine."

"Yes, sir," Timmy mumbled at the same time Tony said, "Yes, Papa."

All of them moved to the dinner table, and Tony and Timmy talked to Ziva about Christmas Eve and their personal traditions, as well as what she could expect tomorrow morning. Gibbs silently ate his soup, watching them talk over each other eagerly trying to convey their excitement to the center of their affections.

Once dinner was over, Gibbs stood and put the bowls in the sink. "Ready to read _The Night Before Christmas_?" he asked.

Timmy grinned eagerly as his hand shot in the air. "I'm ready!"

Tony nodded. "Me too! Me too!"

Ziva looked between them. "What is _The Night Before Christmas_? Aside from tonight, of course?" she asked.

Gibbs crooked a finger as he walked into the living room, everyone following behind him as he sat down on the couch. Timmy ran to the bookshelf and passed over the book, almost reverently before sitting on the ground next to Tony, and Ziva sat down next to him. Gibbs smiled and looked at each of their faces, before opening the book and starting to read. "'T'was the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...'"

* * *

Gibbs woke up to excited yelling from Timmy down the hallway. "Tony! Tony, wake up! It's Christmas! It's Christmas!" he exclaimed.

There was the sound of a body hitting wood, and then rushed footsteps out of the nursery and down the hallway, into his room. His boys leapt onto the bed, and Gibbs suddenly remembered the downside of having children who happened to be in adult bodies. He nearly flew out of bed from the momentum and sat up, holding up a hand to stop Timmy and Tony's jumping on the bed. "Okay! Okay, I'm up!" he said.

As he got out of bed, he noticed Ziva leaning in the doorway, stifling laughter in the bathrobe and pajamas she kept over here. Still in his undershirt and sweatpants, he walked out of the room, Tony following in his Frosty the Snowman pajamas, and Timmy wearing his reindeer footies, their favorite sets of sleepwear which they saved especially for Christmas. As he reached the ground floor, he turned back to see the surprise on Timmy and Tony's faces as they saw the tree with 6 new presents underneath it, 3 for each of them. "Santa came!" Tony exclaimed.

"It's too bad we have a fireplace, otherwise we could check for reindeer prints in the snow, but they'd be on the roof," Timmy said, sounding not at all disappointed. "But, still! He came! Do you think he liked the cookies?"

"It appears he left a note," Ziva said, walking past all of them and holding up the plate the cookies were on, which had a piece of paper folded neatly on it. "'Dear Timmy and Tony, Thank you both for the delicious cookies and milk as always. The reindeer especially enjoyed this year's round of carrots, and the water was a thoughtful touch. Remember to be good boys this upcoming year, as you were this past one, and be especially nice to each other, since I know you two can sometimes fight. Sincerely yours, Santa Claus'. I would say he liked the cookies."

Tony and Timmy high-fived, and moved downstairs past Gibbs to their stockings. "Is it time for stockings, Papa?" Timmy asked.

Gibbs nodded, and Tony and Timmy sat down on the floor, pulling out candy canes and Sour Patch Kids and Nutter Butters (a more recent obsession of McGee's, that was starting to catch Timmy's interest as well,) and a few things such as new gloves and hats, since their old ones were getting a little worn through. They sat there for a minute, looking over their individual hauls, before starting to put things either on the coffee table or back in the stockings, and moving toward the Christmas tree. "Rock, paper, scissors?" Timmy offered.

Tony nodded. He used rock to beat Timmy's paper, so he got to open the first present from Ziva, a stuffed Saint Bernard. He gave the toy a tight squeeze and beamed up at Ziva. "Thank you!" he sang.

Gibbs motioned for Timmy to open a present, and he looked like he might shriek with laughter when he opened his box from Ziva to find a teddy bear with nerd glasses, complete with tape. "It's a geek bear!" he giggled. "Thank you!"

Ziva nodded to both of them and got settled on the couch. Tony and Timmy looked at each other and nodded. Tony pulled out a bag from under the tree and passed it to Ziva. "We know it's not Hanukkah," Tony began.

"But we made you 8 presents anyway, and hoped you wouldn't mind opening them all at once, instead of spread out," Timmy finished.

Ziva smiled and nodded. "That is very thoughtful of the both of you."

Gibbs watched attentively as she opened up each of the presents. A clay dreidel, some cookies shaped like the Star of David, and a handmade card were the most noteable ones, save for the last one, which Ziva pulled out and immediately smiled at. "It has a Star of David on its stomach!" she said, pleased. "This is so sweet! Did you find this for me?"

Timmy and Tony nodded. "Glad you like it," Tony said shyly.

They all looked to Gibbs. "Your turn, yes?" Ziva prompted.

Gibbs rolled his eyes playfully and got down on the floor, reaching under the tree to pull out the present that his name on it. "I saw what they found and immediately wanted in on it," Ziva said with a chuckle. "You will like it."

Upon tearing off the paper, he found a small figurine of Maleficent underneath. Gibbs chuckled. "Oh, so I'm the villain to you three?" he asked.

"You play the villain lots in our games!" Tony defended.

"Also, Maleficent turns into a dragon, and that's really cool! So if you turn into a dragon, that's lots cooler!" Timmy added. "Because you're even cooler than Maleficent! She was just the coolest one there!"

Gibbs cracked a smile. "Thanks, you two. Go on and open the rest of your presents."

Tony and Timmy opened their presents from Santa, a toy computer, several books and a few records for Timmy, and a new set of painted blocks, a toy dragon, and a stuffed monkey for Tony. They also enjoyed the Disney movies Ziva got for them to share. Timmy grinned at the kit to make a book from Tony, and Tony hugged Timmy in return when he saw the matchbox cars. Then came the presents from Gibbs. Tony opened his first, eyes lighting up as he saw the wooden parking lot, fit perfectly for the size of his cars. "This is so cool! Thank you, Papa!" he exclaimed, crushing Gibbs in a hug.

Gibbs hugged him back but made sure he could see Timmy as the boy opened his rather bulky and non-conventionally shaped gift. He tore away the paper and gasped, tears coming to his eyes as he saw what it was. "A rocking horse?" he whispered.

"Sized for you," Gibbs said, lifting Timmy onto it. "I figured if you ever got overwhelmed in the house, you could rock in the nursery or the basement."

Timmy blinked rapidly, tears falling down his elated face. "Thank you. I know you don't understand what I do when I'm overwhelmed...so thank you," he whispered, putting his feet on the rests and giving it an experimental rock.

"You're very welcome," Gibbs said, kissing his forehead. "Now, shall we do breakfast?" he asked.

Everyone funneled their way into the kitchen, where Gibbs quickly made pancakes and heated up cinnamon rolls he had made a couple nights before. "You have to have at least one fruit on the table there," he informed the three. "Which means a banana, an apple, or an orange. Individual grapes do not count as one. I have cute those into acceptable bunches if you wish to have them as well."

He made a dozen pancakes and pulled eight cinnamon rolls out of the oven, enough to have extras as snacks or dessert later. He put a plate with all the pancakes and one with the cinnamon rolls on the table, and pulled out four plates to put them on individually, passing those around. Tony immediately went for the pancakes, while Timmy grabbed 2 cinnamon rolls. Ziva stuck mostly to the fruit, and Gibbs had one of everything, along with coffee.

Once breakfast was done, they would watch movies and experiment with their new toys, and Gibbs had no doubt Timmy would never want to leave the rocking horse. Then they would take ugly Christmas sweater pictures at Ziva's insistence, he could feel it in his bones. After which they (or he, at least,) would change out of them and head over to Ducky's for Christmas dinner and exchanging gifts with Abby and Jimmy, before everyone lapsed into a food coma. There would never be a moment alone, never a moment without constant vigilance and stress around the hyperactive kids. But that's what Christmas was with his kids, and Gibbs wouldn't have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a good Christmas and Hanukkah guys! One quick thing before you go, which is kinda sad: Tumblr deleted my account without giving me a proper explanation of what I'd done wrong, and I'm still waiting to hear back from them, which means that those of you who I talked to over there, our conversations are gone. I've set up a new account, therealshnuffeluv, and I plan on making a new blog for _Gibbs' Family_ , but it'll take me a bit. Just in case you were wondering, you guys know who you are, I should hope. With that, I wish you guys a great time, and unless I somehow crank out a new fic in 7 days, I'll see you next year!


End file.
